Word Origin & History

jump 1530, perhaps onomatopoeic (cf. bump); another theory derives it from words in Gallo-Romance dialects of southwestern France (cf. jumba "to rock, to balance, swing," yumpa "to rock"), picked up during English occupation in Hundred Years War. Superseded native leap, bound, and spring in most senses. Meaning "to attack" is from 1789; that of "to do the sex act with" is from 1638. The noun is attested from 1552. Meaning "jazz music with a strong beat" first recorded 1937, in Count Basie's "One O'Clock Jump." To jump to a conclusion is from 1704. Jumpy "nervous" is from 1879. Jump suit "one-piece ...coverall modeled on those worn by paratroopers and skydivers" is from 1948. Jumping-rope is from 1805. Jump in a lake "go away and stop being a pest" attested from 1912.